A Scottish start-up that gives consumers free new products to try at home has secured £115,000 in seed funding for its formal launch later this year.

Product discovery club Triyit has secured the money from a trio of investors that includes Apollo Investments in Edinburgh, Wallace Equity of Stirling and London-based Angels Den. Triyit founder Alex Barron said the money will support the full launch of the service towards the end of this summer.

Users give Triyit a detailed description of their product and lifestyle preferences, and in exchange receive a box of free goods tailored specifically to them. These can include food, drink, cosmetics and beauty goods.

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If subscribers fill out a feedback form on each product, they are automatically registered to receive their next box of goods.

"When you receive the box, everything in there is yours to keep, eat, use, whatever," Barron said.

The brands pay to be included in each campaign, though sales are a "by-product" of the main aim which is to collect consumer insights and drive consumer engagement through word of mouth on social media.

The service has been in a limited pre-launch for the past year, with about 10,000 people signed up so far. Some of the brands that have featured during that time include Moma Foods, NutriBrex, Beauty Kitchen, Love Corn, Elsa Organics and Foal.

Barron said the feedback the brands receive is "very hyper-targeted", with consumer awareness results that are also impressive. The last campaign, which involved just 300 boxes, generated approximately 500,000 social media impressions.

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"The trust of that coming from me as your friend on Facebook, that is going to mean a lot more to you than a company posting something about how great their new product is," he said.

The Glasgow-based business is currently a team of four that includes Barron's father Ronald, who serves as part-time finance director in addition to his day job as a chartered accountant. Barron expects headcount to grow to seven by the end of the year, and double in the year thereafter "if things go to plan".

Barron, whose background is in design and marketing, came up with the idea for Triyit while travelling abroad for two years in the US, New Zealand and Australia. After examining a number of other subscription box models during his travels, he returned to Scotland to develop his own model that he has labelled as a "modern, affordable" alternative to the traditional focus group.

Started on "boot-strap" financing, Triyit has also had support in the form of a loan from The Prince's Trust . The business secured a further £10,000 last year when it was named one of the winners in the Scottish Edge competition.